DOVER — A man was arrested while panhandling in Weeks Crossing Thursday afternoon, just one day after City Councilor Michael Crago addressed the growing problem during a council meeting.

“I'm not really sure what can be done about it,” Crago said to the city council.

According to City Manager Michael Joyal, the city does not have an ordinance against panhandling, but there is work being done to try to fix the growing problem at the intersection of Central Avenue and Indian Brook Drive.

“It's a slippery slope to deal with,” Joyal said, because panhandling is a constitutional right, protected by the First Amendment.

Police Chief Anthony Colarusso said the city is researching various tactics, and even working with other communities like Concord, to prevent the problem and come up with an ordinance, but said it is difficult because it is a form of free speech.

“As long as they are just holding a sign and politely asking for a handout and they are in a proper place, it is constitutionally protected,” Colarusso said.

Click image to enlarge

Chad Thomas Heilmann

He said there is not much they can do at an official level.

“However, one way to prevent the problem, is for folks to stop providing funds to any of these individuals,” Colarusso said, adding that if the panhandlers are no longer receiving money in this location, they will stop coming back. “We understand that some people are homeless but we have assistance programs at the city and state level.”He added that people are finding it profitable to panhandle, whether or not they are homeless.

“I think word is just getting out that people are getting money and its profitable and its easy money for them and they don't have to stand out there that long to get it,” Colarusso said.If people begin to aggressively panhandle or step onto the roadway or onto private property, arrests can be made and officials can get involved.“We've been responding to complaints and trying to get (to Weeks Crossing) as much as possible,” he said. “We are going to be doing some things to be more aggressive, such as plain clothes surveillance to try to hold them accountable.”

Panhandlers are legally allowed on medians, but they are prohibited from stepping into the roadway. They are also not allowed to bother drivers.

A well-known panhandler to the police department is 28-year-old Evan Post, whose last known address was in Barrington. He has been arrested on multiple occasions for his aggressiveness in the past two months. According to Colarusso, Post is believed to now be homeless and has been arrested for criminal trespassing, disorderly conduct and jaywalking.

On March 29, a driver called a complaint in to the police department.

“They said they had been personally accosted by Post,” Colarusso said. “The officer went up to observe (Post) and he was disrupting vehicle traffic, so he was charged with disorderly conduct.”

Colarusso said the department has had a lot of contact with Post, who has a court date on May 6.

“He's pretty persistent, but I suspect in the end if he continues to do this he will end up in jail,” Colarusso said.

Post is not the only panhandler in the area. Some days, a half dozen panhandlers can be seen in Weeks Crossing.

According to Colarusso, most of the other panhandlers are “fairly well-behaved.”

However, on Thursday afternoon just shy of 1 p.m., Chad Thomas Heilmann, 38, of 46 Belknap Street, was charged with one violation count of soliciting business.

Statute RSA 265:40, pedestrians soliciting rides or business, states, “No persons shall stand on the traveled portion of a roadway for the purpose of soliciting a ride, employment, business or contributions from the occupant of any vehicle.”

According to Captain Bill Breault, an officer witnessed Heilman step off the median and into traffic, walking up and down the street, approaching vehicles.

Heilmann was booked at the police station and released. He will be arraigned on May 20.

“We encourage people to call us if they see people being aggressive,” Colarusso said. “But again, we're encouraging people to also just stop giving them money and the problem may take care of itself.”